Years ago, I learned of a published case study describing how a ketogenic diet helped @Carobeckwith recover from a 15-year battle with anorexia. Today's newly published research is a direct result of Caroline and her family's valiant journey, and their determination to help others explore the metabolic intervention that put Caroline's anorexia into remission. At @BaszuckiGroup we've been honored to support @GuidoFrank and his team who designed, launched, recruited for, completed and published this pilot trial of ketogenic therapy in weight-normalized anorexia nervosa. This paper is the culmination of many years of hard work--including from those who participated in the trial. A second study is already underway. One family's journey sparked one clinician-scientist to want to learn more. Together, Dr. Frank and the Scolnick family have challenged the field to explore the metabolic roots and treatment possibilities of a disorder in which current treatments fail far too many. Please share widely. A second nation-wide trial is enrolling now.

At 19, our son, Matt Baszucki, was hospitalized for mania and psychosis. A 5 year daily battle with severe bipolar disorder I followed. Full remission for 1.5 yrs on a ketogenic diet. This thread and video tell our story, and neuroscientists weigh in: piped.video/watch?v=d0Q-nVWJ…

So, say you're on a low-carb diet and your LDL cholesterol marker goes up in your annual blood work. Your doctor tells you to go off your low carb diet because it's not safe, it's raising your cholesterol, you're going to have a heart attack. So you start eating Oreos and your LDL-C goes down. Your doctor is happy. But are you? Do you really think you're healthier now than you were before the Oreos? This is a great effort by @nicknorwitz to require us to use a little bit of good old common sense, backed up by some excellent N of 1 science.

During winter cleaning today I finally dealt with drawers full of supplements we tried for our son when he was battling bipolar 1. I am mortified at the number of protocols I dragged him through over 5 years—that didn’t work. That’s not even counting trials of 29 different medications. I am also profoundly relieved and grateful that we stumbled upon the work of @ChrisPalmerMD @GeorgiaEdeMD and @ShebaniMD. For four years now, Matt has used nutritional ketosis to heal from mental illness. All this is getting tossed in favor of keeping ketones in the therapeutic range. New year, empty drawers. Rejoice

Our son would still be suffering from debilitating bipolar disorder if we had not stumbled upon @ChrisPalmerMD's work back in 2020. The resulting metabolic therapy our son started in 2021 flipped the food pyramid on its head with a medical ketogenic diet. Within 4 months, his bipolar cycling stopped and has't returned. It's time to stop allowing misguided dietary guidelines to lead people down a path to illness. Wellness is possible with a truly evidence-based approach to therapeutic nutrition. Let's do this. #FlipTheFoodPyramid

I still pinch myself when our son drops by for dinner and TV on the odd Sunday night. Last night it was the new episode of Succession & the world chess tournament. You can't imagine what it's like to fear you've lost a child to mental illness then to have them recover so completely--unless you've been there. The cats like it too. #FeelingBlessed

A landmark Stanford pilot study has shown that #ketogenic diet improves severe mental illness. med.stanford.edu/news/all-ne… Stanford Medicine today announced the results of a clinical pilot trial of ketogenic diet for serious mental illness. The 4-month trial showed improvements in both psychiatric and metabolic health in patients diagnosed with either #bipolardisorder or #Schizophrenia. Huge congratulations to Dr. Shebani Sethi @ShebaniMD, the #MetabolicPsychiatry pioneer who led the trial, her collaborators, and all the participants who took part in the first trial of ketogenic diet for serious mental illness since 1965. Baszucki Group @BaszuckiGroup was honored to provide funding for the landmark trial. Read the paper here: lnkd.in/guMVgcRq Watch the video on youtube here: piped.video/watch?v=14gFafGU… For resources on ketogenic therapy for mental health, visit @Metabolic_Mind.

Dr. Mary Newport's husband showed signs of dementia at age 51. She found out about coconut and MCT oil as ketogenic therapies for Alzheimers. Within days of treatment starting: - suicidal depression lifted - tremors stopped - hope returned He was able to read again and get a volunteer job. #KetogenicTherapy, including keto diet / exogenous ketones should be standard of care in #AlzheimersDisease.

There were years when our son was so unwell with Bipolar I that we couldn't go on a family vacation. There were times he was so sedated from medications he would not leave his room. It's been a miracle to see him in true form again for more than 2 years. #KetoForMentalHealth

Congratulations to @ShebaniMD whose pilot study of ketogenic diet for serious mental illness was named one of Stanford's top 10 scientific advances of 2024. med.stanford.edu/news/all-ne… "Pilot study shows ketogenic diet improves severe mental illness: Research led by Shebani Sethi, MD, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has found that dietary interventions can help treat severe mental illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. She and her colleagues learned that a ketogenic diet not only addresses common metabolic side effects from antipsychotic medications, but it also improves patients’ psychiatric conditions."

The Maryland state health secretary who shut down the privately funded ketogenic diet trial for inpatients with schizophrenia (the only such trial in the country) has resigned. I wonder whether the pressure from the more than 21,000 people who signed a petition to reverse her decision played a role. This is a promising development in the effort to restart this trial. @ChrisPalmerMD thebaltimorebanner.com/polit…

Our son recovered from Bipolar I with help from a ketogenic metabolic intervention with 100 years of evidence in epilepsy. We funded these 5 trials in keto for mental health conditions. @DavidBaszucki #KetoForMentalHealth #MetabolicPsychiatryCommunity prnewswire.com/news-releases…

Should government be able to shut down a privately funded clinical trial without cause? Urgent plea: If you care about people battling mental illness, please help us by signing this petition to keep a government official from shutting down a landmark privately funded inpatient trial of medical keto for schizophrenia in Maryland. Those of you who know our family's story know how personal this is for us. Our son might not be here today without medical keto therapy, and we desperately want others to have access to trials of this important treatment option. You can imagine how alarmed we are by this news as reported in @baltimoresun today: baltimoresun.com/2024/07/01/… In summary, Maryland’s Secretary of Health Laura Herrera Scott, MD, has halted a foundational ketogenic diet study among schizophrenia inpatients at the Spring Grove Hospital Center. The study is being conducted in conjunction with the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center at the University of Maryland. It is led by Professor Deanna Kelly, who has conducted more than 25 NIH and foundation-sponsored trials. Notably, this landmark trial is the only inpatient study of ketogenic therapy for serious mental illness in the United States. Halting this trial needlessly slows the progress of metabolic psychiatry research and begs the question of who has the authority to decide what science should be pursued and on what grounds. According to the Sun, the patient population at Spring Grove is “a vulnerable group of people, who often have a history of homelessness and untreated or treatment-resistant mental illnesses. Roughly 70% are Black. Many are from economically disadvantaged families or have fallen from higher socioeconomic levels due to illness or drug use.” We have to ask ourselves whether the Maryland Health Department should have the right to prevent these consenting patients from accessing new treatments through clinical research. Before the Secretary’s action, repeated attempts were made to discuss the study and its potential with Secretary Herrera Scott. Advocates, patients, caregivers, and legislators also appealed to the Secretary, asking her to reconsider the decision. The Maryland Psychiatric Society, representing 775 psychiatrists in the state of Maryland, formally requested that the research be allowed to continue: “The prospect of discontinuing essential research programs not only threatens the rights of patients but also undermines the efforts of dedicated healthcare professionals striving to provide the best possible care. The ramifications of such a decision extend far beyond the confines of these centers, impacting disadvantaged and disabled individuals across Maryland who rely on the benefits of esteemed and reliable research and clinical programs for access to innovative treatments and specialized care.” mdpsych.org/wp-content/uploa… After a 16-week review, the Health Department found no health and safety concerns and confirmed the keto trial decision was not based on human subject concerns. It was described as a “procedural” decision and appears without clear cause. I urge you to share this tweet widely and to sign the petition authored by @ChrisPalmerMD which calls on Secretary Herrera Scott to immediately reverse her decision: chng.it/xz78wPNzgj You can also contact the Secretary directly and ask her to immediately reverse her decision: Social media: Fundin Email: laura.herrerascott@maryland.gov Phone: (410) 767-4639, 1-877-463-3464 (toll-free, Maryland), tdd: 1-800-735-2258 (toll-free) Together, I hope we can persuade the secretary to overturn this decision and protect the rights of patients to access cutting-edge research.

Evidence is accumulating on the health benefits of ketogenic diet, including a profound reshaping of metabolism in as little as 3 weeks. I will post the actual study when it is final with more details. But the conclusion should whet appetites. news-medical.net/news/202305…

"A new study involving the entire adult population of Denmark found a clear link between cannabis abuse and mental illness," writes Susan Pinker. Our son has been saying for years that cannabis will be his generation's cigarettes--thought to be safe at any dose until it was clear it was not. Adolescents and young adults are especially vulnerable. Do we really want to wait until the randomized double-blind clinical trial that is unethical and so will never happen? Or do we, as a society, want to make the educated guess that heavy cannabis use is a trigger for mental illness and make sure our kids understand the risks? wsj.com/articles/cannabis-is… via @WSJ

Eight years ago, our son was hospitalized for mania with psychosis. Matt struggled with symptoms for 5 years & was given a diagnosis of treatment resistant #bipolar disorder. Now he's sharing his story on the @TODAYshow of how @ChrisPalmerMD & #keto helped him get his life back.

Sometimes I wonder whether the effort of trying to build this movement is worth it. Then I get an email like this one titled "You saved my life" and I know it is. The credit actually goes to my son for taking on ketogenic therapy and sticking with it and for pioneers like @ChrisPalmerMD @GeorgiaEdeMD @ShebaniMD and @IainCampbellPhD. Highlights: After beginning ketogenic therapy for Bipolar II, this person found it took: - 4 days to relieve a decade of chronic anxiety - 1 week to eliminate strange thoughts - 2 weeks to no longer tell he had bipolar disorder Continued full remission. What are we waiting for? The text of the email is below, bold added by me: #KetoForMentalHealth #MetabolicPsychiatry

I'm watching advance video testimonials from young people who participated in a keto for depression trial. These videos have me thinking: What if for some people, under some conditions, depression is simply the brain screaming that it's in an energy crisis? And what if that energy crisis could be resolved -- along with the depressive state -- by simply adding ketones to the brain's fuel with a change in diet? These stories are nothing short of miraculous. Why would anybody suffering from depression NOT try a ketogenic diet for 12 weeks to see if it helped? Serious question.

My son recovered from "treatment resistant" bipolar I with a ketogenic diet. This is hope. This is the future.

The @SFChronicle has kindly published my essay about our family's journey in #KetoForMentalHealth. "Prescription pharmaceuticals are commonplace and widely accepted by patients, physicians and insurers. A dietary prescription should also be on the table." tinyurl.com/w3wwrnx6

Is keto good for the brain? Our son was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder I at age 19 5 hospitalizations 41 clinicians prescribed 29 meds After 5 yrs, he started a keto diet & his bipolar went into remission 2 yrs later he has zero symptoms & is thriving #KetoForMentalHealth

For four years, my husband, @DavidBaszucki, and I have dedicated resources to advancing metabolic therapies for mental health, like the kind that helped our son, @BaszuckiMatt, recover from a serious illness. During this time, we worked hard to stay in our lane and remain focused on mental health. I vowed not to dilute our efforts by taking on too much. But sometimes, taking on too much is the only reasonable path. The body and brain are not separate. Americans are facing both a mental and physical health disaster, and we feel compelled to step up to take on this larger challenge. Today, our family is committing $50M to combat America's broader health crisis. The launch of @metcoalition, the Coalition for Metabolic Health, represents our commitment to reversing the chronic disease burden of America's adults and children. We vow, today, to do our part to make the next generation of Americans the healthiest in history, and we believe this goal is within reach. We are honored to bring together experts who have been fighting for decades to bring metabolic health to the mainstream. We are in their debt for their tireless efforts, which we are now dedicating ourselves to supporting and amplifying. Join us in this mission by following CMH on social channels and sharing this announcement. We have nothing if we do not have our health, and we are all in this fight together. @Metabolic_Mind @BaszuckiGroup @bschermd

I was like this mother--helpless and frustrated as I watched my son cycle in and out of psych wards and trial 29 different psych medications. Then we learned about nutritional ketosis as a treatment for psychosis. Our son has been symptom free for 2 years. I would love to share our story with this family. It doesn't have to be this way. Our story at metabolicmind.org theguardian.com/society/2023…

If you’re going to watch anything from the hearings yesterday, watch this clip. As I have said on this channel before, confirming RFK for HHS is, in my opinion as a non-partisan health advocate, the most important thing we need to do for Americans. Is he perfect? No. Do I agree with everything he says and does? No. Has he made mistakes? Certainly. Will he continue to do so? Yes. As we all do. But I believe, after 18 months of reading and watching and listening, that at this moment in history, he is the one person most likely to turn this massive agency toward ending chronic disease in our country—thereby setting an example for the rest of the world. When you wake up sick every day, or one of your children wakes up sick every day (as one of ours once did), nothing else matters. Which means this must be the single most important priority in America. Anybody else put into the role of HHS secretary is likely to do what the past decades of secretaries have done—and we will end up in the same unnecessarily tragic place we’re in now. The chronic mental and physical disease epidemics will march on unopposed, capturing our children’s futures. As they consider their behavior in today’s hearing and their confirmation vote, I call on every senator in the United States Congress to put their conscience, and the health of our children, above partisan politics. I ask them to vote not based on their chances for reelection, but for the chances of millions of Americans to live a long and healthy life.

It's time to say something. Please note that these views are only my own and do not represent official positions of any organization with which I am affiliated. I have been following RFK Jr since the beginning of his campaign and as a health advocate, I am strongly in favor of him being confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. I challenge those of you whose only information about his positions comes from mainstream media to go directly to the source. Listen to his interviews. Watch his full videos--not clips that distort his meaning. Go to the government websites whose data he cites to validate the information for yourself. You could even go so far as to read his books. I am deeply non-partisan and always have been. I look to collaborate with those whose aims align with my own, regardless of political affiliation. It is in that spirit that I share my personal excitement for the years ahead. Largely as a result of RFK Jr’s Make America Healthy Again coalition, ending chronic disease has become a priority at the federal level. Several of our closest collaborators are being considered for top positions in federal agencies, and the deep connection between metabolism and mental health is being discussed at the highest levels of government. Diet and health are being recognized as intimately linked, and along with regenerative farming and ranching ideas, are becoming part of the public discourse in a new way. The opportunity to improve health and food systems has never been greater. I strongly believe that confirming RFK Jr for HHS gives us the best chance -- IN OUR LIFETIMES -- for reversing the physical and mental health epidemics our country faces and to finally putting the health of Americans above corporate and special interests.

Wouldn't it be amazing if the candidates on the two major tickets knew as much about the metabolic roots of chronic disease as @RobertKennedyJr does? The book he is citing here from @bigfatsurprise was the book that changed our family's life and helped shaped the thinking that drives our private foundation @BaszuckiGroup and @Metabolic_Mind. Whatever happens with this election, I hope the tenets of RFK's platform regarding health, the food system, and chronic disease will be embraced by the next administration.

piped.video/playlist?list=PL… Pretty incredible to hear RFK Jr discussing pilot trials of ketogenic diet for anorexia. There are also pilot trials of ketogenic therapy for depression, schizophrenia, dementia and bipolar disorder with promising early results. If you’d like to learn more about keto for anorexia, check out our YouTube playlist. If @DrJBhattacharya is confirmed, there could be a huge opportunity for the NIH to fund preventative and nutrition therapy clinical trials for mental illness that could actually make a huge difference in millions of peoples’ lives.

I'm on a United flight with my son, who recovered from #bipolar using ketogenic therapy and is devoted to a keto/low-carb lifestyle. They were all out of the frittata breakfast and tried to serve him french toast, which he politely declined. We got a snack box instead and inside was this package of Oreos. It must be some kind of sign. Note: We aren't nearly as brave as @nicknorwitz so we didn't eat them. Read @nicknorwitz's OreoStatin #LMHR (lean mass hyper-responder) paper here and spread the word: mdpi.com/2218-1989/14/1/73 Please share the link to the study in your own original tweet. That's how they count eyeballs in this business. It's really important to note that Nick's N of 1 study isn't, for me at least, just about scientific awe. In our work at @BaszuckiGroup and @Metabolic_Mind, we encounter many people using ketogenic therapy to treat serious mental illnesses like bipolar disorder, major depression, anorexia and schizophrenia. A percentage of these people see their LDL rise. Increasing carbohydrates, which would lower LDL, can actually cause their psychiatric symptoms to return. We owe it to these people to get curious about this phenomenon not because it's scientifically interesting, but because this is a life-saving intervention that shouldn't be clouded by perceived cardiovascular risk. These people deserve to know the true risk, which researchers at UCLA are now working to establish. I hope Nick's creativity and commitment, alongside the pioneering work of people like @AdrianSotoMota and @realDaveFeldman, will continue to drive this science forward. It's up to all of us to amplify it along the way.

My son reports that along with a ketogenic diet, a helpful intervention for #TreatingBipolar is waking up at the same time every day (7:30am) and getting outside immediately for 30 minutes of sunlight. Anybody else doing something like this? ipsrt.org/

I was fortunate to be present yesterday at the White House as the Administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission released its first report: "Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment." President Trump gave brief comments, along with several Commission members, led by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. @RobertKennedyJr Our growing team of eighteen @BaszuckiGroup and @Metabolic_Mind are actively working to expand and accelerate our initiatives in nutrition science, metabolic and mental health education, and regenerative agriculture to drive positive change. This thread shares our perspectives on five topics covered in the new report that are related to our work. 🧵 a thread

My son has been in remission from a very serious case of #bipolar I for nearly 3 years. He credits his turn-around to adding ketogenic therapy (aka #keto diet) to the things he was already doing when he started keto: taking meds, meditating, exercising daily, staying substance free, getting outdoor morning light, and managing his sleep. Within 4 months of starting ketogenic therapy, he was in remission, and he's continued to get better and stronger and clearer ever since. When I first learned that a keto might help with bipolar at the end of 2020, I reached out to @ChrisPalmerMD for help. In addition to his generous expert advice, there were a few disparate resources that kept us going through our keto for mental health journey: Dr. Palmer's web site. @GeorgiaEdeMD's web site. The paper from @IainCampbellPhD showing that more than 150 people with bipolar were talking about ketogenic diets online. The listing for @ShebaniMD's Stanford keto for mental illness study on clinicaltrials.gov. The preclinical research and various other papers establishing a rationale for extending the use of keto from neurology (epilepsy) to psychiatry. Three years later, we can celebrate the exploding new field of metabolic psychiatry, including: 1) the publication of seminal books from @ChrisPalmerMD and @GeorgiaEdeMD (release date Jan 30 - preorder now!) that are truly helping establish a new field 2) more than a dozen clinical trials of ketogenic diet for serious mental illness around the world, with two already completed and awaiting publication 3) 2 metabolic psychiatry convenings 4) the first Metabolic Psychiatry CME from @EllenhornPACT 5) a growing list of trained clinicians hosted by @GeorgiaEdeMD 6) our Metabolic Mind youtube channel with more than 30K subscribers 6) a brand new @Metabolic_Mind web site coming soon -- stay tuned for the launch this month 7) frequent messages from people telling me that the metabolic psychiatry movement, driven by pioneering clinician-scientists, along with our family's story, saved their life. And now: an ambitious new Metabolic and Mental Health Program being launched by @ChrisPalmerMD at McLean / Harvard Medical School which will include assessments, treatment, research and education. We're on the verge of a transformation in how we study, treat and talk about mental illness. Hold onto your hats.

The people who suffer as a result of this idealogically driven "science" are pregnant women who have been bullied into believing that vegan diets are better for the planet and can support the development of a human brain (and their children). They aren't, and they can't.

This should come as no surprise. med.stanford.edu/news/all-ne…

1/2 baltimoresun.com/2024/07/09/… Today, the @baltimoresun published a letter co-authored by my husband, @DavidBaszucki, founder and CEO of @Roblox, and me, asking for a reversal of a puzzling decision by the State of Maryland to shut down promising food as medicine research for schizophrenia. "Considering the scarcity of federal funding for mental health research, privately funded studies like Kelly’s are a lifeline—not a line item. Among the dozen ketogenic diet trials for serious mental illness undertaken to date, Kelly’s work was uniquely valuable as the only study of ketogenic therapy for schizophrenia being offered to inpatients, who are often the most severely ill. As a rule, these patients cannot afford a dietitian, let alone a private metabolic psychiatrist. If Herrera Scott stands by her decision to prevent them from participating in this trial, it is unlikely they will ever have access to this potentially life-changing therapy again." Please sign the petition, above, by @ChrisPalmerMD asking Dr. Herrera Scott @MDHealthDept to reinstate this important trial led by veteran researcher Dr. Deanna Kelly @ProfDeannaK And please share this post widely so we can get the petition to 20,000 signatures. We're nearly there. Here is my original post with additional details, including a link to the Baltimore Sun's article breaking the story: nitter.app/janellison/statu….

When our son sent his #bipolar symptoms into remission after 4 months on a ketogenic diet, there was not a single published clinical trial demonstrating this was possible. Now there is. Stanford's study, led by #MetabolicPsychiatry pioneer Dr. Shebani Sethi @ShebaniMD, demonstrates the promise of ketogenic therapy to improve both metabolic and mental health. This is a great day for everyone struggling with mental illness and the people who care for them. Let's share this widely so the field of psychiatry gets curious about this promising intervention. It's time. sciencedirect.com/science/ar…

Never would I have imagined that in such a short time, news of the intersection of metabolic and mental health would reach Capitol Hill. You go, @ChrisPalmerMD ! You are a champion in the fight to transform the lives of those battling mental illness.

It's makes a mom proud to watch her son go from "treatment resistant" #bipolar patient to mental health advocate. That speaker badge was hard-won. Register to tune in online at 8am PST tomorrow, Friday, Jan 26 to hear @BaszuckiMatt @IainCampbellPhD & @ChrisPalmerMD talk about how ketogenic therapy and #MetabolicPsychiatry are giving people their lives back. #MHS2024 #Keto4Bioplar metabolichealthsummit.com/

Will everyone forgive me if I pause for a minute to just be happy at the results of a google search for "keto" news?

Not to be petty, but maybe all the readers who posted nasty comments on my essay in the San Francisco Chronicle about keto sending my son's bipolar into remission will swallow their words. sfchronicle.com/health/artic… N of 1 is still evidence. Now we have more.

Is it my imagination or are we seeing a paper almost every single day demonstrating that ketosis is good for the brain? "Together, these findings demonstrate the KETO diet improves hippocampal mitochondrial efficiency. They add to a growing body of evidence that suggests ketones and ketogenic diets are neuroprotective and metabolically and cognitively relevant, even in healthy adults. They also suggest that ketogenic lifestyle changes may be effective strategies for protecting against cognitive decline associated with aging and disease." mdpi.com/2218-1989/12/11/101…

What does diet have to do with panic attacks? When our son first went into remission from bipolar disorder after a radical change in diet, and therefore metabolism, we almost couldn't believe it. But when you consider that food is the most important molecular information you give your cells, it makes sense. It's great to see mainstream media picking up the story when a celebrity like Gisele shares it openly. “I wanted to feel better, I didn’t know what to do, so I found this amazing naturopath and he said to me, ‘Gisele, we have to change your diet.’ And I was like, ‘Diet, what does that have to do with panic attacks?’ And he’s like, ‘No, it has everything to do with it.’ ”

Excuse me, X, but I thought you were the platform where medical information was free from erroneous moderation. This is a funded trial with IRB approval in 4 top medical centers. How can it possibly be considered potentially harmful to the point where you won't allow me to share an article already published on one of those medical center's sites? @elonmusk

Many of you know our son's story of full recovery from #bipolar with the help of a ketogenic diet / metabolic therapy we learned about from @ChrisPalmerMD, @GeorgiaEdeMD & @ShebaniMD. Help us spread the word to those struggling with #MentalHealth.

I can attest to the truth of the message in this video: @ChrisPalmerMD helped our son recover from #bipolar with #KetogenicTherapy. Our son transformed before our eyes--not back to the person he had been before he got diagnosed at age 19--but into someone even more balanced and healthy. Two and a half years later, he is thriving. Healing from mental illness is possible.

Biggest misconception about bipolar is that it is a mood disorder. It is a malfunction in brain energy metabolism that may be reversible. Mood issues are downstream of the root cause. At least that was true for our son and many others who are recovering with metabolic ketogenic therapy. Our story at our non-profit metabolicmind.org

Dear research funding bodies around the world: Please join us in funding clinical trials of #KetogenicDiet for brain-based disorders. We have enough pre-clinical evidence. Humans are in need. Reach out to Baszucki Group / Metabolic Mind to learn more.

Mitochondria are critical to brain repair. And what is critical to healthy mitochondria? Not eating all the time. And what is a good way to not eat all the time? In my own experience: Reduce refined carbohydrates that promote hunger. Increase fat and protein.

We are so grateful to investigative journalist Will Stone @WStoneReports and @NPR for this ground-breaking piece of reporting on the promise of #keto to treat mental illness. We were thrilled to see so many of our collaborators and friends interviewed with depth and accuracy in this powerful article. I hope this will pave the way for many more people becoming curious about ketogenic and other metabolic therapies, as well as the emerging field of #MetabolicPsychiatry. The piece came out the day after our son, @BaszuckiMatt & featured scientist, Dr. Iain Campbell (co-hosts of the podcast #BipolarCast), shared their stories recovery from #Bipolar at the @MetabolicSummit in Tampa #MHS2024. It was a cathartic moment being together with so many leaders in the field, including @ChrisPalmerMD who helped Matt recover, as well as @KetoCounselor @KetoPotterRDN @loricalabresemd Dr. Matt Bernstein from @EllenhornPACT @KaniaZupec @GeorgiaEdeMD (who was signing her brand new book) and others. As Will Stone reported, @BaszuckiGroup is backing clinical trials to help us understand who might best respond to metabolic therapies for mental illness, and under what circumstances. But we don't want to wait for large-scale randomized controlled trials to get the word out to patients, families and clinicians. We launched the non-profit initiative @Metabolic_Mind to provide resources now. Check out our new web site metabolicmind.org and our youtube channel, hosted by metabolic health expert, Dr. Bret Scher. Our son went from "treatment resistant" to a mental health advocate presenting his story on a stage in a matter of three years. "Dramatic" almost doesn't capture the magnitude of the transformation. #gratitude "But some doctors had already started researching it after seeing the potential in their practice, among them Chris Palmer, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital. Palmer had his own revelation about the diet a few years earlier, which he detailed in a 2017 case report. Two patients with schizo-affective disorder had "truly dramatic, life-changing improvement in their psychotic symptoms," he says. In early 2021, he started working with the eldest son of Jan and David Baszucki, a wealthy tech entrepreneur. Their son Matt had bipolar disorder and had been on many medications in recent years. Jan Baszucki enlisted Palmer's help as her son gave the ketogenic diet a try. "Within a couple of months, we saw a dramatic change," she says.

Since this video was made, twenty studies of ketogenic therapy for serious mental illness have been completed or gotten underway, including 8 randomized controlled trials. I'm currently reading @LauraDelano's harrowing and impactful book, "Unshrunk," in which I learned that in the entire history of ECT treatment, there have been only 11 placebo-controlled trials, many of which failed to show efficacy. Yet in spite of severe side effects, including memory impairment, more than 100,000 Americans receive ECT treatment every year. I believe that within a few years, we will have a stronger evidence base for ketogenic therapy -- a low-risk dietary intervention without the negative side effects of other psychiatric interventions -- than we do for ECT. I am deeply grateful for pioneers like @ChrisPalmerMD, who helped our son @BaszuckiMatt send bipolar I into remission 4 years ago. As the evidence for metabolic therapies for mental illness builds, I hope that those 100,000 "treatment resistant" patients in America who are resorting to ECT will be offered a safer option with better results. #KetogenicTherapy

I first heard the term "Metabolic Psychiatry" three years ago when our son had embarked on a ketogenic metabolic therapy that ended up sending his bipolar disorder into remission. As far as I could tell, the term was only being used at a Stanford clinic founded by Dr. Shebani Sethi. But it was clear that it was the right way to describe a new field that would research and treat mental illnesses as metabolic disorders affecting brain function. We pivoted our family foundation, @BaszuckiGroup, to focus on the intersection of metabolic and mental health and launched @Metabolic_Mind to share science and personal stories. I joked to the then brand new head of our foundation that the task ahead was easy; all this movement had to do was create a brand new field of medicine our of thin air. Now, it's happening. One of the key drivers in this movement has been the team at University of Edinburgh which includes @IainCampbellPhD, his dad, Harry, and @ProfDanielSmith. After successfully completing the first European clinical trial of ketogenic diet for serious mental illness (#bioplar), @EdinburghUni won massive government funding in a competitive process, which, along with our modest support, has made possible the launch of the first metabolic psychiatry research and treatment hub in Europe @HubMetPsych. I have no doubt this team will lead a transformation in the study and treatment of mental illness in Europe in the years to come. Bravo. And Godspeed.

Dear psychiatry: Why not test for insulin resistance at first sign of psychiatric illness? Dear payers: Serious mental illnesses cost you more than almost any other conditions. Please consider reimbursing readily available, inexpensive blood work looking at insulin resistance.

For days, I have been trying to write a tribute to our kind, brilliant friend, collaborator and physician, Dr. Nolan Williams @NolanRyWilliams. This beautiful tribute from the veterans Nolan helped, in the post below, has finally unlocked my broken heart long enough to try to share a few words about our dear friend. We met Nolan at Stanford during the years we were searching for answers for our son after his diagnosis of treatment resistant Bipolar I. Nolan's work on repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation came to our attention, and we spent many hours in his office, discussing the SAINT protocol he pioneered and whether it could be used to treat not only Major Depressive Disorder but Bipolar Disorder. During a dark time for our family, Nolan administered SAINT to our son, bringing him immediate relief from a brief depression. Brain stimulation did not turn out to be the treatment that would provide lasting relief for our son, but it has been that treatment for many others. We are honored to be investors in Magnus Medical, the visionary company Nolan founded to deliver SAINT at scale for major depression. Nolan and I had many discussions about whether targeting the right side of the brain, rather than the left, might work for the heightened state of mania that kept our son unwell. Nolan envisioned an inpatient study of SAINT for mania. When that proved logistically impossible, we supported his lab in extending his outpatient trials of SAINT from major depression to bipolar disorder depression, a study that delivered promising positive results that are being replicated in further studies around the world. In 2021, after five years of treatment resistant illness, our son used a 100-year-old epilepsy treatment, ketogenic metabolic therapy, to finally send his bipolar symptoms into remission. Nolan was intrigued by our son's success. We talked about how both brain stimulation and psychedelic medicine might mechanistically be viewed as metabolic treatments. We began brainstorming an idea for a study that would combine therapeutic ketosis with SAINT. That study never came to be, and in the darkest moments of this last week, I have found myself running through the inevitable "what ifs." What if we had moved forward with that study? What if Nolan had tried therapeutic ketosis himself? What if it could have offered him greater capacity for facing life's struggles, as it has for so many others? Of course we can't know the answers to those questions; we can only move forward and try to help others. Next week, we will announce the winners of @BaszuckiGroup's inaugural Metabolic Psychiatry Scholar Award for young scientists and clinicians studying metabolic therapies for mental illness. One of the projects being awarded is a research study combining brain stimulation and ketogenic therapy. I will be paying special attention to that project, in Nolan's honor, in the hopes that his dream of combining those therapies might be realized. Once, when I was in the throes of despair over our son, I remember Nolan telling me that in the end, much of psychiatric treatment rests on taking one logical step after another and in not giving up. Those words kept us going through many more difficult years and we are deeply grateful for his unfailing support. Nolan's loss can not be made whole. But in his memory, we can dedicate ourselves to the vision he held dear--new treatments to offer hope for those suffering from debilitating mental and emotional states. We will miss you, Nolan. The world will miss you. In your memory, we promise to keep up the fight.

"I try hard not to use the word miracle...but what do you say when at 49 years of age you get to start living the life that you thought you might have led since age 15? It wasn't a miracle. It was ketogenic therapy that happened to me." Please share this video widely. This 11-minutes could be the beginning of healing for someone in your life battling mental illness -- even if they've been suffering for decades. Or even someone who feels a little off and is seeking improved mental well-being. Shannon came across the work of @IainCampbellPhD, who shared that ketogenic therapy turned the lights back on in her brain. After 35 years of unremitting bipolar episodes, she was skeptical. Then she dove into research, and started keto. Five days later, it was light the lights went back on in her brain. "After 35 years, I felt a clear energy and an ability to connect with my own thinking with a level of clarity, but not driven energy, this is a calm, clear energy, in a way I hadn't felt since I was 15 years." 25 years untreated. 10 years treated with standard therapies without relief. 5 days on keto -- and the lights went back on. Who in your life needs this message of hope?

The punchline of the recent debate over the new keto / cholesterol study: 1) No data was "hidden" 2) The results did not show that keto caused rapid plaque progression 3) The primary finding stands: Neither high LDL-C nor ApoB correlated to coronary plaque progression 4) The recommendations also stand: Use cardiac imaging, rather than unreliable blood markers, to assess cardiovascular risk. The story: The recent publication of results of the study on keto, cholesterol and cardiovascular disease has given rise to a lot of chatter on X. Much of this has been helpful and welcome, and will encourage additional clarifications of the LMHR study results--although the conclusions stand as reported. A minority of the comments and criticisms have been destructive, misguided, incorrect, careless, libelous, and/or harmful to those who, like my son, leverage ketogenic diets to keep devastating mental and physical illnesses at bay. Regarding the latter category of engagement: I personally invite you to rise to the challenge and offer civilized, fully-informed, respectful, honest commentary from here forward. You know who you are. And I invite all of you who have engaged in this debate, or who are curious about LDL cholesterol and ketogenic diets, to watch, from start to finish, @Metabolic_Mind's latest interview between cardiologist @bschermd and the leading cardiac researcher on the study, @BudoffMd. We will also publish the transcript. Congratulations to the study team who has battled hard to bring this data to light: @nicknorwitz @AdrianSotoMota @realDaveFeldman If you are interested in following along as this research continues to unfold, or learning about the documentary film we made about this study, including remarkable stories of healing from physical and mental diseases with keto, sign up for updates here: cholesterolcodemovie.com/

Schizophrenia is a lifelong chronic genetic mental illness that will require heavy doses of meds forever, right? Wrong. If this video doesn't give you goose bumps and/or bring tears and/or give you hope for humanity, then I don't know what will. piped.video/shorts/R0Ge_0CSo…

Okay people, watch this clip, watch it again, then share it with every single #psychiatrist or clinician you know who treats mental illness, & anyone who struggles--or knows someone who struggles--with a mental disorder. That's pretty much all of us. #MetabolicPsychiatry #KetoForMentalHealth

We hope our son @BaszuckiMatt's story of recovery from #BipolarDisorder with a #KetoDiet will help others. We are indebted to @ShebaniMD @IainCampbellPhD @GeorgiaEdeMD & @ChrisPalmerMD for driving this work forward. Learn more at metabolicmind.org.

My husband @DavidBaszucki and I were in the audience together watching our son @BaszuckiMatt give this talk about his recovery from #bipolar disorder at the #CoSci conference in Las Vegas--hosted by the most awesome @realDaveFeldman. It was the first time Dave and I were together watching Matt speak, and I couldn't help but think back to all the years when it felt we were all alone in a nightmare, and that Matt would be sick forever. It's always a chronic illness, right? That's what we were told. But it wasn't. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined Matt would be symptom-free for three years, tapering off meds, and standing on a stage sharing his story of full and lasting recovery with others. So I want to tell all those families out there who are struggling with mental illness that this doesn't have to be a life sentence. Your loved one is still in there. They have not failed treatment; treatment has failed them. If only you can find the right treatment, they can be set free to be their true and beautiful selves again. SO DON'T GIVE UP. #WorldBipolarDay is this coming Saturday. And on that day, I am going to be sending all healing powers and strength to those of you who are feeling desperate and alone. Healing is possible, and as @georgiaede says: "Hope is on the menu." Huge gratitude to @ChrisPalmerMD and @KetoPotterRDN for helping Matt heal his metabolism and his brain.

Three years ago, we hired our first team member to help @DavidBaszucki and me form @baszuckigroup to work toward the greater good in mental health, democracy and regenerative agriculture. Today, I walked into our conference room for our monthly philanthropy all hands to find the whole brilliant team assembled, and it made my heart sing. What a crew! I feel honored to get to work with them every day to make the world a little better. And tomorrow, we'll be joined by our first Chief Communications Officer. Onward and upward!

Incredible. A "lifelong" serious mental illness, Bipolar I, in remission within 12 weeks on ketogenic therapy. Same diagnosis as our son, roughly the same duration until remission. @e_brietzke

On behalf of the more than 100 million Americans battling chronic mental and physical illness, I am applauding the confirmation of RFK Jr as head of HHS today. I hope he will turn the nation's attention to understanding the root causes of disease so that we can better treat and prevent these conditions.

Proud Mom here. Our son has his own youtube channel now to share his experience using ketogenic and metabolic therapies to send his bipolar I into remission. Those days when he was roaming Los Angeles were the darkest days of our family's life. Those of you who are despairing of ever finding something that can help, maybe this can give you a bit of hope. It's not your fault if you or your loved one has an illness declared "treatment resistant." They haven't failed treatment; the treatments have failed them. For info on the latest clinical research study results on keto for bipolar, check out Iain's Campbell's thread here: nitter.app/IainCampbellPhD/status…

On a low-carb or paleo diet, dramatic weight loss was achieved, but the brain benefits that allowed Suzy to say a 3-syllable word for the first time in her 40 yrs did not occur until carbs were dropped to 20g and #NutritionalKetosis was achieved. #downsyndrome #dementia piped.video/rx9UOhBfbys via @YouTube

To my knowledge, this is the first project of its kind offering ketogenic therapy to kids with bipolar disorder. Please share this far and wide. This project is changing the trajectory of these young peoples' lives.

During the 5 yrs my son battled #bipolar, he'd get manic after just 2 nights of short sleep. This past weekend with us in Las Vegas at F1: -clubbing 'til 3am Friday (him, not us) -F1 race past midnight Saturday He returned symptom-free & crashed for 8.5 hrs #Keto4Bipolar

We do not need to go further than ingredient number one: corn syrup. Maybe it's time to stop subsidies for corn that make it a super cheap ingredient for manufacturers to put in food, even for infants. We can incentivize farmers in other ways so their bottom lines don't suffer. Can we also educate people about alternative products that don't use corn syrup as part of this operation ?

It's exciting to be here at the first ever Metabolic Psychiatry conference with continuing education credits. People are suffering needlesslly. We need to train an army of clinicians in metabolic therapies for mental illness. This is the beginning! #EllenhornMetPsy

I just looked at my calendar; it was nearly four years ago that I first met over zoom with @IainCampbellPhD and his dad, Harry, to discuss the paper I'd found on the internet that Iain had published showing that people with bipolar were discussing a ketogenic diet online more than any other dietary pattern. Our son had been on a medical keto diet for less than three months, but he was already experiencing a profound reduction in bipolar cycling, which he'd been battling for five years. So I was trying to find people out there in the world of science who were studying the phenomenon our son was experiencing. My husband's company, @Roblox, had just listed publicly on the New York Stock Exchange on March 10th, so we were armed with new resources to fund ground-breaking science in bipolar disorder. That initial conversation has led to an incredible partnership with Iain, Harry, @ProfDanielSmith and the rest of the crew in Edinburgh. Our son @BaszuckiMatt and Iain started a podcast called Bipolarcast: Keto+Bipolar. Iain earned a well-deserved @BaszuckiGroup fellowship to enable him to become a full-time scientist. Edinburgh won a prestigious government grant to form a Metabolic Psychiatry Hub in which more than 100 scientists will be studying the link between metabolism and the brain. And, most critically, this pilot trial of ketogenic diet for serious mental illness, the first in Europe, was funded, designed, undertaken, completed and published. I learned a lot from watching the Edinburgh team about what it takes to get good trials conducted and published -- and it is no small task. A thousand small actions over the last four years have led to the large impact this pilot trial will have on the bipolar research community--and on the clinicians, individuals and families desperately seeking new treatments for bipolar disorder. Read the study: tinyurl.com/8vwztbad I could not personally be more proud of Iain's leadership as a scientist, peer and expert by experience over the last four years. Congratulations to the entire team at U. Edinburgh, along with the participants in this trial, who are the true heroes here for committing to the wild idea of trying "a diet" for bipolar disorder. And huge gratitude for our whole crew at Baszucki Group, especially Julie Milder @julie_milder who on our science team who leads clinical trial work, and our fearless leader, Carolyn Wall Sakata @Cwsakata, who were key in building a metabolic psychiatry scientific community to support this work. This pilot study is a key driver in the groundswell in research around ketogenic therapy for mental illness that is already changing lives around the world. Bravo.

If you memorize just one thing about the state of ketosis, let it be @GeorgiaEdeMD's explanation in this video below. People tend to think of a "keto diet" as a high fat meat focused diet for weight loss. But in fact any way of eating that lowers insulin enough to turn fat burning on is ketogenic. When fat burning is turned on, ketones are produced. These molecules easily cross the blood-brain barrier and can be used by the brain for fuel. Maybe we should change the name to "LID" = Low-insulin diet. (Everyone on our team gives me a hard time because I'm constantly trying to come up with acronyms for everything. Better ideas are welcome in the comments.)

Prosecute whoever gave him access to a gun.

Stop. Take a moment. Read this mom's retweet of the new research on keto for bipolar from @IainCampbellPhD and team in Scotland. WITHIN DAYS of starting keto, this 11-year old stopped having hallucinations, mania, depression and other symptoms. Off all meds. Parents: Recovery is possible. #NewBipolarTreatment

I just listened to @CaseyMeansMD, co-founder of @Levels, on @hubermanlab. Casey does nearly all the talking, so whether you're a fan of Huberman or not, this one is a must watch/listen. I typically listen to podcasts on double speed, but I kept having to stop to slow this one down to savor Casey's beautifully articulated nuggets, like: "Our cells hear every single one of our thoughts through our biochemistry." Casey is not only one of the most brilliant minds in metabolic health, she is one of the most brilliant minds of our time, full stop. Her ability to synthesize complex ideas into straight-forward strategies is unique among health experts. Perhaps that's why she found she had to walk away from conventional medicine to find a way help people understand health and heal. Listen to the podcast. Buy the book. Tell your friends. With Casey's leadership, we can turn this ship of health around. amazon.com/Good-Energy-Surpr…

I can't count the number of times our son @BaszuckiMatt told us during his five years of illness that the problems he was having were not psychological; they were the result of his brain not functioning the way it used to. Intuitively he knew that to be the case. Now that he has been in remission for four years, he's sharing that intuition to help others. Share your experience in the comments if you've felt something similar. Another #ProudMomMoment

Incredible stories from families of improvement in ADHD symptoms, autism and Tourettes on keto. "“People say keto is so hard. But it is not. And I would fly to the moon to help my children, so why wouldn’t I try feeding Brandon a special diet?” dietdoctor.com/low-carb/adhd…

See the word “science” in the title? This book os no joke. Can’t wait to dive in.

mycme.com/pages/metabolic-ps… I could not be more proud of our team @BaszuckiGroup and @Metabolic_Mind for orchestrating the quite challenging feat of producing four free CME courses in Metabolic Psychiatry offered on the largest platform, @myCME for clinicians of all kinds. We've underwritten these courses entirely so that they can be made available without a fee alongside courses funded almost entirely by pharmaceutical companies. Congrats to @bschermd for leading the charge and to the clinicians who contributed to this important content. More to come!

We did it! More than 20,000 people have now signed this petition to protect the rights of inpatients with serious mental illness to participate in food as medicine research for which they have already consented. As a mother and mental health advocate, I want to personally thank all of you who signed and shared this petition. Stay tuned for news as the situation unfolds. @ChrisPalmerMD @ProfDeannaK @Metabolic_Mind

After 4 months of #TherapeuticNutritionalKetosis, our son's bipolar symptoms were gone. Now it's been almost 2.5 years, and it really is like he doesn't have a mental illness any more. He's dropped his meds by half, and continues to carefully taper. He is thriving. #KetoForMentalHealth #MetabolicPsychiatry #MetabolicMind

If you take one thing away from this video, I hope it is that citizen scientist @realDaveFeldman is considering lipid metabolism as deeply as anyone on the planet (literally). Sometimes it takes someone outside the mainstream to see clearly what those inside are too close to see. As a lay person trying to understand all this, I had to trust someone. I chose to trust Dave Feldman because he was making sense of something critically important to some of the people whose lives are being saved with ketogenic therapy, especially those battling serious mental illnesses. Dave Feldman is making sense of why some metabolically healthy individuals might see LDL increase on a ketogenic diet. I don't want these people to be afraid that a life-saving intervention like ketogenic therapy might shorten their lives. It's clear this needs to be carefully, systematically studied. So we decided to help fund Dave's study, led by a leading cardiology imaging expert, and then....pssst....make a documentary film about it. Stay with us as this story unfolds. @nicknorwitz

My son had access to any and every medication available. And in fact he was prescribed trials of 29 meds in 5 years. He had access to the best "healthcare" money can buy. Yet ketogenic metabolic therapy helped him more than anything that was offered in the field of conventional psychiatry. (You can find his story at Metabolic Mind.) Medications have their place in acute situations, and likely saved his life. But they did not move him toward wellness, because those treatments did not address the root case of his bipolar illness. And now that he is stable, slowly tapering off those medications has brought its own challenges. I agree with Dr. Makary: Access to pharmaceuticals is not the the primary problem. Drug prices are not the principle issue. Obamacare vs. no Obamacare is not the critical debate. The price of insulin is not the make or break of American's health. Eliminating the need for insulin -- which companies like Virta and Owna Health are doing with their patients using affordable dietary interventions -- is a much better solution. Having better treatments that address root causes is what is necessary to end chronic disease. We don't need sick care driven by the wrong incentives. We medicine to promote health, not push drugs. Whoever wins this election, I hope that real solutions to make American healthy again rise to the tip-top of the policy agenda. I've just ordered @MartyMakary's book and invite you to do the same. I can't wait to read it. This is an important interview. Please watch and share.

Less than two years ago, we convened 50 stakeholders interested in the new field of metabolic psychiatry for the first ever MetPsy roadmap retreat in San Diego. piped.video/watch?v=d-ndD5CR… My husband @DavidBaszucki and I talked about our family's story to open the meeting. This was the first time I shared our son, Matt's, story of recovering from #bipolar in public; I was so nervous I almost didn't think I could take the stage. A lot has changed since then in metabolic psychiatry. Trials have been completed and many more are underway. Clinicians are being trained to offer these therapies in increasing numbers, and we are hearing daily from people successfully addressing their mental health challenges with metabolic strategies. Leaders in the field are treating patients, running clinics and trials, publishing books, and spreading the word. @IainCampbellPhD @ChrisPalmerMD @ShebaniMD @GeorgiaEdeMD @KetoCounselor What hasn't changed is that our son is thriving, and has now begun to advocate for others by sharing his own story. (Stay tuned for more on that front next week!) @BaszuckiMatt

This is the first case series in the published literature of which I am aware demonstrating complete remission of depression and anxiety on a ketogenic diet. This is the future. frontiersin.org/articles/10.…

Two questions: If high LDL cholesterol leads to cardiovascular disease, then shouldn't high LDL resulting from a diet lead to scary plaque accumulation? Is high LDL cholesterol resulting from a ketogenic diet dangerous in typically lean, metabolically healthy individuals? (Lean Mass Hyper-Responders = high LDL, high HDL, low triglycerides.) The punchline: In this study, which my husband, @DavidBaszucki and I have been lucky enough to support, baseline scans show no difference between the participants with high #LDL-C on a #ketogenic diet and a matched cohort. Please share widely and stay tuned for results from the second set of scans one year later, concluding February, 2024. @BudoffMd @nicknorwitz @realDaveFeldman @DavidBaszucki @Metabolic_Mind @BaszuckiGroup

The top news trending on X this morning is the closure without cause by government of an important schizophrenia research trial. Petition: chng.it/xz78wPNzgj Please sign the petition to keep this critical study on food as medicine in serious mental illness from being shut down by Maryland's secretary of Health. The people who suffer as a result of this decision are the patients. Read and share the Baltimore Sun article: baltimoresun.com/2024/07/01/… nitter.app/i/trending/18079843989…

Here is Casey Means, telling it straight. The idea that Ozempic is our only option to reverse the obesity epidemic is, frankly, absurd. Humans have been metabolically healthy for millennia without drugs. Radical changes over the last 50 years in the environment our bodies encounter daily are making us fat and sick. Food. Light exposure. Movement. Those are my top three. It is within our control to improve our environment and our health if we get the right information about how to do it. You won't get that information from a pharmaceutical company or the USDA or any of the huge medical associations that begin with American: ADA. AMA. APA. etc. You likely won't get it from your doctor, either. But you can get it from @CaseyMeansMD. I highly recommend Good Energy, the book she wrote with her brother @calleymeans. The metabolic health revolution has begun.

I'm super excited about this RCT of ketogenic therapy for bipolar. As these top neuroscience researchers point out, the field has often focused on mechanism at the expense of evaluating treatments that might actually help patients live better lives. This study provides the opportunity for both. It will build on the current scientific literature to learn more about the who, what and when's of ketogenic therapy and will dive deep into brain metabolism in these disorders using state-of-the-art imaging and other modalities. We're thrilled to be able to partner with such an incredible team. And it's a huge bonus that as @ChrisPalmerMD has already announced, @McLeanHospital is launching a metabolic and mental health program in the same department under his leadership. #MetabolicPsychiatry

shorturl.at/vTgj2 After our son recovered from bipolar illness with help from a ketogenic diet, we went on a mission to find researchers anywhere in the world who were studying the impact of nutritional ketosis on serious mental illness. One of the people we were introduced to (by @ChrisPalmerMD) was Dr. Zoltan Sarnyai @ZSarnyai. Dr. Sarnyai is a Hungarian physician and neuroscientist with an interest in nutritional psychiatry. After stints at Harvard, Rockefeller University and Cambridge, Professor Sarnyai established a research program at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms of stress and psychiatric disorders. When we first met, Dr. Sarnyai had a reputation for being the scientist who cured mice of schizophrenia with a ketogenic diet. I remember him saying wryly, in his thick Hungarian accent, something to the effect of: “Which means I’ve proven that if you want to get rid of schizophrenia, you need to become a mouse.” I was fascinated to learn the story of how Dr. Sarnyai first became interested in ketogenic diets and the brain. It started more than twenty years ago during a father-daughter fishing trip with a friend who was a biochemist at UCLA studying energy metabolism and cancer. Dr. Sarnyai, who had never been satisfied with the neurotransmitter or “chemical imbalance” theory of mental illness, began to wonder whether energy metabolism might similarly be fundamental in psychiatric disorders. In 2004, a student paper on metabolic changes in the brains of schizophrenia patients inspired Dr. Sarnyai to launch a collaboration that established that in a pharmacological animal model of schizophrenia, there is clear indication of insulin resistance in the brain. Dr. Sarnyai established his lab at James Cook to understand the links between brain bioenergetics and psychiatric disorders and began conducting and publishing preclinical studies. Then over a decade ago, the idea of ketone bodies and ketogenic diets “just clicked.” Years of research from his lab has validated that in different animal models of schizophrenia, ketogenic diet normalizes psychotic behavior. Convinced that a ketogenic diet could work in human psychiatric patients, Dr Sarnyai connected with Dr. Chris Palmer in 2017 after reading Doris’s case study. The two have stayed in touch ever since. Dr. Sarnyai had been trying for years, unsuccessfully, to secure funding for human trials. We were delighted to be able to help him with his proposed RCT on the effect of ketogenic diet on #bipolar and #schizophrenia, to be led by Head of Psychiatry Dr. Carlo Longhitano @doncaloger0 at James Cook University. The study launched earlier this year and is, as far as we know, the first placebo controlled randomized controlled trial of its kind. Thirty patients have already been recruited. Dr. Longhitano explained in the Australian press that ketogenic therapy works by providing “alternative energy sources in the form of so-called ketone bodies (products of fat breakdown) and by helping to circumvent abnormally functioning cellular energy pathways in these mental disorders.” This new paper provides a description of the trial protocol and rationale, and is a fantastic blueprint for others to use as additional research in keto for serious mental illness gets underway around the world. Please share it widely. We are grateful to @ZSarnyai and @doncaloger0 for their commitment to the community members they serve, and to innovative science that has the potential to radically improve treatment for the seriously mentally ill.

Can low carb nutritional approaches with the potential to reverse diabetes and improve mental health be made affordable and accessible to all? My son's life was returned to him after he adopted low carb nutrition to treat a psychiatric condition. Three and a half years later, he continues on a path of sound mental and physical health. Our family foundation @BaszuckiGroup now supports research and advocacy in metabolic and mental health @Metabolic_Mind. A primary stumbling block--real and perceived--for the adoption of low carb nutrition is accessibility in disadvantaged communities. Hence, we were thrilled to support endocrinologist @DrMarielaGlandt's 100-person pilot program offering low carb nutrition at a health clinic in the South Bronx. Now, leading nutrition expert and journalist Nina Teicholz @bigfatsurprise has published an in-depth report in @medpage on Dr. Glandt's progress, including interviews with participants. I invite you to read and share! Let's spread the word to individuals, families, physicians and associations like the @AmDiabetesAssn that with the right nutrition, even those living in challenging conditions can find hope for reversing diabetes, getting off insulin, and reclaiming their health. We look forward to expanding our partnership with Dr. Glandt and @OwnaHealth over time to address mental health directly. Imagine a medical system in which every physician in America read this article and began offering low carb nutrition to patients--and insurance companies reimbursed for it. We'd have a chance at reversing disease and alleviating suffering with an age-old medicine: FOOD.

Symptoms of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's have been shown to be reversible with low carbohydrate and ketogenic nutritional interventions. T2D patients can often get off insulin within weeks of beginning low carb therapies. Low carb nutrition works as well as GLP1s for obesity, costs no more than food already being purchased, requires no prescriptions, and has no scary unknown short and long-term side effects. Symptoms of Alzheimer's, or type 3 diabetes as it is often called, can be mitigated with MCT oil or ketone supplements and ketogenic diets by providing an alternate fuel source for brains that can't use glucose effectively. Yet in a Stat+ newsletter that brings to light problematic news related to the pharmaceutical industry, I read this morning about: 1) the high costs and shortages of insulin for type 2 diabetes, 2) how spending on GLP1s like semaglutide for obesity and type 2 diabetes by the US government and health systems "doubled to $38.6 billion, making the drug the top-selling medicine in 2023" and how spending is expected to continue to increase, and 3) the woes of the drug company pushing a new Alzheimer's drug that physicians aren't prescribing enough of because they believe it's futile to treat this condition. Imagine if we had a lobby as large as all the drug companies' combined to push whole foods low carb nutrition and ketogenic therapy to policy-makers, health systems, insurance companies and families. We could radically improve health without shortages, without bankrupting the healthcare system, and without giving up on patients. Oh, and then there's the piece about how research at Harvard is largely fueled by pharma: "As Harvard Medical School research increasingly leans on funding from biopharmaceutical companies to supplement government funding, faculty are grappling with the benefits and harms of private interests in science..." Philanthropy MUST step up with funding not motivated by future profits. #CitizenScience @realDaveFeldman @davidludwigmd @bigfatsurprise @garytaubes

When our son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I began to understand that the diagnosis was simply a description of his symptoms. Now we know that what he actually had was a metabolic dysfunction. All symptoms have resolved on a ketogenic diet.

Our son, Matt, was told he had a highly heritable treatment resistant mental illness, which he battled daily for 5 years. It's been more than three years since he started #ketogenic therapy. He has tapered off 75% of his medications and has NO symptoms of the #bipolar disorder type I we were led to believe was caused by his genetics and that he would suffer from for the rest of his life. His genes haven't changed, but now they support robust physical and mental health. Isn't it time we shifted the focus away from genetic predisposition to how genes interact with environment to promote or destroy health? Maybe, just maybe, the brain he was born with works powerfully well under the right conditions and with the right fuel.

Here's my son Matt and me as Matt gives a brief toast to our #MetabolicMind awardees at our "Future of Keto Diet Trials for Serious Mental Illness" conference in Miami in March. Changing the world of mental health one ketone at a time. milkeninstitute.org/article/…

I was honored to share baszuckigroup.com's philanthropic aims w/ @BarackObama. He was intrigued by the connection b/t metabolic & mental health. I gave him a copy of @ChrisPalmerMD's Brain Energy, cause what did I have to lose?

Dr. Martin Picard, one of my scientific heroes, describes how mitochondria take food and oxygen and transform them into energy for life. If you ever doubted that what you put in your mouth determines how your brain functions, this podcast might just change your mind. (Pun intended.) @MitoPsychoBio @bschermd

If I'd read an article like this when our son had his first manic episode back in 2016, I would have immediately offered to help him try a ketogenic diet. But there were no articles like this, then, and there were no clinical trials. Now I get to curl up on an outdoor sofa listening to the waters of Lake Tahoe lap the shore, and read an article that has videos from my own son embedded in it. That's a heck of a lot better than what I did during those five years when he was so unwell, desperately surfing the internet in search of something, anything, that might help him. I hope any moms out there tonight who are desperately searching will stumble upon this article....ketogenic therapy gave our son his life back. It's worth a try. #NewBipolarTreatment @ChrisPalmerMD @GeorgiaEdeMD @ShebaniMD @LWSchizophrenia @BaszuckiMatt

New depression research alert! I speak with families all the time whose young adult children are struggling with crippling mental health challenges, including depression. They've tried therapy. They've tried medications. They've often tried many other treatment modalities without success. These families are desperate, and I want them to know about the results of this new research. This single-arm pilot study is the first ever peer-reviewed research of ketogenic diet for treating major depressive disorder. Sixteen college students at The Ohio State University sustained a well-formulated ketogenic diet for 10-12 weeks, with strong compliance and a roughly 70% reduction in depression symptoms, along with improvements in metabolic health. Is it a randomized controlled trial? No. Not yet. Though 7 RCTs of keto for serious mental illness are now underway. Ketogenic interventions have 100 years of evidence of safety and efficacy in the field of neurology. For a young person who can't engage fully in their life as a result of feelings of depression, lack of focus, lack of motivation, or lack of joy -- is reducing carbohydrates and increasing fat in the diet worth a try? Let's get the word out so that young people and families can decide for themselves how much evidence is enough evidence to try something new that doesn't require FDA approval, or even a prescription. Ketogenic therapy can not only be powerful, it can be empowering. Congratulations to the team at The Ohio State University for this important pilot research. Read the paper in Translational Psychiatry: nature.com/articles/s41398-0… @BaszuckiGroup @OhioStateNews

Two weeks ago, my dad left this life. He died in the hospital surrounded by his family. He was a giant of a human being and the imprint he left is deep and wide. I will be forever grateful to have known him so well, and also that my kids got to know him during these last five years after he moved from Washington State to live in our orbit. He was my biggest fan, and I miss him terribly, as do all who knew and loved him. I don't like to think of him as resting in peace. I like to think of him as resting the way he lived--with unfailing cleverness and good humor, infinitely interesting ideas, unmatched creative output, massive generosity, and deep affection for all those he loved. Watch for announcements about when the fantasy books he was working to finish are available online. E. Todd Ellison, you will be sorely missed and forever celebrated.

Perfect for a rainy winter day in 2024.

This team @BaszuckiGroup and @Metabolic_Mind. Just wow. Changing the future of mental health.

Big thanks to the many recommendations for keto powders and shake recipes. They're keeping my dad fueled & his spirits up during what we hope will be a brief hospital stay. Here's a flashback of us from healthier days--which we are determined will return. #KetoForCancer

It was a proud moment watching my son @BaszuckiMatt present his story of healing from #biopolar at the @MetabolicSummit in Tampa last week, right after @IainCampbellPhD presented his, and right before @ChrisPalmerMD, who helped Matt recover, talked about his impactful work. Both Iain and Matt had conditions that were declared "treatment resistant" before they discovered #ketogenic therapy. To all of you out there being told you are treatment resistant: It's the treatments that are failing you. There might still be something out there that can work. So don't give up! #KetoForMentalHealth #MetabolicMind #bipolarcast #MHS2024